Firefly
by Raiku.Nishimura
Summary: Why me? I can't say that I'm sure what I did to deserve this, partly because I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Dying young is bad, obviously, but rebirth? I mean, did it really have to be in the Naruto universe of all places? Self-Insert/OC, Rebirth, undecided for romance
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I was dying, but I wasn't scared. I wasn't _happy_ about it – I hadn't even reached the legal drinking age for god's sake – but I wasn't going to fight it. No matter how good modern medicine was it would never be able to patch me up, not when I was currently staring at a morbid collage of my guts on the pavement. I was more worried about my family and how they would react to my death. I feel sort of guilty for doing this to them, which sucked because now I was going to die with regrets.

It didn't hurt though, so that was something.

I saw something shift in the corner of my eye and my eyes were automatically drawn to it.

It was some kid, no older than 10, that had propped himself up on his scrapped up forearms and was staring at me in horror. I had pushed him out of the way when that stupid drunk driver.

Bingo.

"Kid," I managed to rasp out, "not your… fault."

He eyes widened slightly, so I guess he could hear me. Time to pass on my last message.

"Tell… family… I love… them… K'ay?"

It took a couple seconds, but he gave a slight nod.

Finally, I was done. I felt a small, but real, smile grow on my lips.

"Than…ks"

I had no regrets.

I was ready to die.

And I did.

What I wasn't ready for was my rebirth.

* * *

It was dark, I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't move all that much, I was floating in warm, thick _something_ but I was oh, so comfortable. I never really believed in the afterlife but this is quite nice. It doesn't seem like any religion really got the whole afterlife thing right though, which is a little funny if you ask me. All those wars about religion, anti-gay religious fervor, Islamist extremists and so on were for nothing. Hell, even the atheists were wrong. Humans do seem to have a soul after all; it's just that we all just end up floating in squishy darkness for eternity. Huh. When you think about it this is an odd way to spend eternity.

I don't know how long I floated there, just pondering everything and nothing at all. Despite the lack of, well, anything, it wasn't all that boring here so I didn't mind.

Then came the squeezing sensation.

It was short and not too strong, so at first I thought I imagined it. Then it came again, and again, and again; Each time stronger and longer than the last.

This was weird.

I wasn't too worried though. What could I do? I was dead, so I'd just have to go along with whatever the universe decided it wanted me to do. Despite my decision to just go with it, the squeezing sensation still weirded me out. This _whole_ _situation_ weirded me out, I mean what the hell? This afterlife made absolutely zero sense.

Then the squeezing became a constant and I felt myself be pushed through a tube that was way too small for my body. I won't even begin to describe the awful feeling of those slimy walls, but really that wasn't what made the squeezing so terrible. It had become _painful_.

Why the hell was I feeling pain? I was supposed to be dead for God's sake!

Then I felt ice-cold air brush against my skull. Oh no, I so don't want to go to that cold place. Why couldn't I stay in the dark, warm place?

If the universe heard me, it sure as hell didn't listen. I was pushed farther into the horrible windy place. It was freezing and also incredibly bright, so much so that I couldn't actually see anything other than the burning light. If the dark liquid I came from could be compared to like living in pillow, this new hell would be like living a snowy field under a spotlight.

It wasn't not pleasant, to say the least.

Then I was suddenly hoisted up, without warning, and _slapped_.

I yelped in pain at the sudden assault on my person (which, by the way was traumatic enough on it's own. Suddenly finding out I still _had_ a body to hit was freaking me out).

Or at least I tried to; Instead a horrid screeching wail came out. Oh my. Is this what happens when you don't talk for a long time?

Then I was flipped around and passed between, well, what felt like giant hands weirdly enough, before being wrapped up like a burrito and shoved against something warm. The warmth was appreciated, and the soft humming coming from it was soothing. Curious about my surroundings, I tried to move my weirdly dysfunctional body and open my eyes. The moving part didn't work, but I managed to open my eyes long enough to register a blurry shape that my mind immediately registered as a face surrounded by a blurry dark halo of hair.

A ginormous face.

Ummm… Ok then.

I was getting a sinking feeling that this wasn't the afterlife I was making it out to be.

Lets see…

Lived in warm dark squishiness for a long time? Check

Pushed out through a tube? Check

No control of my body? Check

Blurry vision? Check

Huge humans? Check

Realization dawned on me; I wasn't dead, I was a baby.

I looked back up into the face of my (new) mother, shocked and slightly wary. This woman carried me for nine months and gave birth to me, but she wasn't my mom! My mom was out there, somewhere, grieving the death of her daughter, not giving birth to a baby!

Just as I thought this, I felt a hand softly stroke my cheek and heard rapid electronic beeping noise. It sounded like a… Oh my god that sounded like a heart monitor. My little body was yanked away from my (not!) mother as I processed the implications of the beeping monitor. Despite being slightly bitter and confused about my new mother, I was still worried about her. There was a small part of my brain felt very attached to her, plus I didn't want her to die because she gave birth to me. Guilt twisted my insides as I realized that this poor women, who loved her child so much she was going to die for it, didn't realize that child was being inhabited by a grown woman that resented being given birth too. While I was very aware that I never chose to do this, the guilt pulsing through my body remained. If this woman, my new _mother_, died today…

I don't know if it was the guilt, panic or stress of going through rebirth that made me pass out, all I know is that after that moment I was dead to the world.

* * *

I spent a few weeks in the hospital – an unusually accurate time estimate since someone had decided to put a calendar up and cross of the days with a black marker so I could count each day that passed – but I never saw my (not!) mother again.

After a couple days though, I realized that I hadn't seen my (not!) father either, which sparked my curiosity. Maybe he was dead, or maybe he and my mother weren't together anymore. Or maybe it wasn't him that was keeping away, maybe I was born premature or something and he _couldn't_ see me. This was all just conjecture of course; I really had no idea what was keeping my new dad away. I also had another puzzle to figure out as I waited, one that was proving to be ridiculously troublesome despite sounding simple. I was trying to figure out what language everyone spoke, but it seems that nobody spoke above a whisper due to the room being filled with volatile wailing time bombs (I can't say I'm a big fan of kids, despite now _being_ one) and I never heard more that a short murmur from any adult.

About a week of straining my ears, a hulking male took me home. Actually, everyone qualified as "hulking" compared to me, and I wasn't very good at estimating size from this new angle so I can't say if he was particularly big or not. I did learn something important though when he came to pick me up: I was in Japan.

The nurse had taken me outside the room and spoke to him loud enough that I was finally able to confirm that, no, they weren't speaking English, and identify the new language.

The man didn't say much to me after taking me home. The first few months of my life I only ever saw him a handful of times. Some woman, other than the one who gave birth to me sadly, fed me and cleaned my diapers. (I don't know if I'll ever fully recover from that humiliation). In fact, I saw so little human interaction that I just felt relieved when someone would answer my cries, even if it was a brief and frigid human contact.

This was a good thing though, in some ways. I knew there was no way I could pass for a normal child, so not having parents that cared would still let me slip under the radar and would give me a free pass later in life for why I don't feel any love for my guardians. While the lack of human interaction would be detrimental to a normal baby's growth (or so I though, like I said I'm not fond of little brats so I know nothing about how children grow other than as they get older, they get bigger) I was going to be fine, or so I hoped. I was a loner before, but I was a functioning adult so the pain and loneliness I was feeling worried me. I never craved human contact like this before, and I'm not so stupid as to chalk this up to the stress of being reborn. Something was fundamentally different about me now; I could feel myself having thoughts and urges that were so juvenile it was embarrassing. Maybe I had an adult soul, but my brain was still that of a baby.

In the end, every day was a battle between my body, which wanted to do some very embarrassing baby things, and my spirit, which refused to submit to the humiliation. The baby in me never stood a chance, "mind over matter" after all.

In the end though, my victory only resulted in me being a very calm baby. It was a little weird, but no one seemed to notice so I counted it as a win.

With my newfound control, I was able to hear, see, and learn anything. The baby brain helped with this, and I sucked up information like a sponge. Seriously, the difference in brainpower between a child and an adult is huge: I was able pick up tons of vocab and grammar rules within one week by listening to my guardians as they romped around the house, and had no trouble remembering them! The combination of rationality and my newfound genius brain made my language skills ridiculously good. Soon I learned a lot of things about my new world through that, the most important being my name: Saito Akira.

I liked it. It wasn't too girly and wasn't too complicated or weird.

I also learned about my family situation. It seems that the woman who took care of me was my aunt, and the man my uncle by marriage, and neither liked me very much. From what I understood, my uncle seemed a little too fond of my mother, who ran off with "that man", as they called him, and married my aunt as a substitute. Now, no one actually said that, but I could read between the lines. Turns out I also had any older cousin, name Ryuuji, who I had never seen (but boy had I heard him, that little shit was _loud_) because my aunt didn't want him associating with the "whore's daughter".

_That_ made me mad. My birth mother was special to me, even if I didn't see her as my mom. When I remembered her hand that stroked my face with such care and how she had sacrificed her life to give birth to me, I felt nothing but respect. I had no doubt that she had been a strong, loving woman, and I would not tolerate _any_ disrespect for her. I felt responsible for her memory and I would never forget her love or her sacrifice, even after my next death. It was the least I could do.

Months blurred together, but soon enough I got control of my body and started to practice crawling, and then walking. They still hadn't actually let me onto the floor, instead they just kept me pinned in my rickety little cradle, so I practiced by walking and crawling around in the tiny enclosure.

When I mastered that, I started trying to climb out of the cradle, which proved to be impossible. I didn't expect it to work, exactly, but I had hoped that I wouldn't have to rely on the whim of a family that obviously wished I had never been born. Still, I continued to try, even if it was just to alleviate the mind-numbing boredom.

I also liked concentrate on feeling out where people where around the house. I never could do it before, but now it seemed like I could _feel_ people's presence through the wall. I was half convinced I was imagining it, but it was amusing so I didn't think to hard.

One day, after I had learned to walk, they let me out of the cradle. It seems that my silence was actually bothering the neighbors, who were only now showing the slightest concern _now_, after five months (my aunt seemed particularly amused by that, but I was too satisfied that she'd let it slip how old I was to be offended).

They pulled me outside and paraded me around outside for an hour or so, explaining that I had been a "weak child" and they had been wary of taking me out in case "something happened", but luckily I was "all better now".

Yeah, right.

Whatever, I just concentrated on charming the locals enough that they would remember me and force my guardians to let me out more, incase the townspeople got suspicious. I responded to their coos with little gurgles and smiles, and sometimes went as far as to grab and gnaw on little bits and ends when appropriate. It was too easy; By the end I had over a dozen adults wrapped around my little finger.

I also observed my surroundings, which proved to be very exciting. Wherever I was living was nothing like where I had grown up in my previous life.

_'There is so much to see! So much to learn!_' I told myself.

But I didn't feel excited, all I could feel was sadness.

The past was the important, it made me who I am, but I knew fixating on it would only bring me more pain. Everyone back home would have wanted me to be happy, and when I joined up with them in Nirvana (that is how the whole reincarnation thing worked, right?) I would be able to tell them wonderful stories about all of the new and beautiful things I had done and seen.

I had lived a normal life: I had struggled and suffered, but also been loved and triumphed, and I had died to protect someone. It was a good life, I should be grateful for all my good fortune, and yet…

I felt like I had lost everything. Everything I had every worked for, wanted or had was gone now and I missed it. I missed my family, my friends, my freedom and my grown body. I missed my favorite foods and my native language. And as much as I tried to reason with myself I still felt an aching hole in my chest.

I just couldn't quite feel happy.

Sure my aunt and uncle weren't helping in that regard, but I'd be lying to myself if I said that they were the main cause for my pain. They were just two people in a loveless marriage with a lot of emotional baggage, and they were taking a bit of it out on me. I could handle it. I was strong.

I _was_ strong.

I _will_ _be_ strong.

* * *

All my hard work charming the locals ended up being for nothing.

As I grew older everyone, aunt, uncle and locals included, started to get scared of me.

At first, I didn't realize what was going on but then I saw my reflection and I shuddered.

My face, my _eyes_ in particular, were just so _wrong_.

They were a sharp, yellowy-green that seemed to glow when he light hit them just right, which was creepy enough as is, but it was my expressions and the way my whole face just… moved, that made it bad. At first, the half lidded eyes and unsmiling face could be seen as sleepy or lazy, but when you looked again (which you did, thanks to my eye color) I looked more like a cat peering at a wounded mouse – calculating, apathetic and way, way too _smart_. My body was that of a child, but my expressions and mannerisms were that of an adult; One with a lot of confidence and the knowledge to back it up.

My nearly perfect Japanese didn't help my creepy-mini-genius vibe either.

Woops.

There was really wasn't anything I could do though; I couldn't relearn something so ingrained and instinctual.

This all happened when I was about nine months to a year old.

There was a tense interlude, of a about a year, where nobody knew what to do with me.

I tried to nice and polite to everyone, but it just seemed to throw them even more off balance.

So much so that on day, when I offered a toy car to Ruuji (who was turning out to rather adorable) when we were at the park in my naturally off-putting way, my uncle just snapped and slapped me. _Hard_.

So hard that I flew back and skidded across dirt.

The entire park was silent, all the parents and kids just stared at me as I lay on the ground, clutching my cheek. Was no one going to help me?

I didn't even feel any pain; I must have been in shock.

"Oji-san?" I asked, eyes wide with confusion.

Had he really just… For offering Ryuuji a toy?

He was just standing there in frozen, as if he couldn't believe what he'd done either, but my question seemed to knock him out of it, but not in a good way.

"Don't call me that, you little freak!" He spat.

I just sat there and looked around. No one did anything to help me: the kids looked to their parents as if to ask _"What should I do?"_ and the parents faces slowly morphed from blank shock to… was that satisfaction?

I focused back on my uncle, afraid to look at them anymore.

"I… What did I do Oji–"

I abruptly stopped when I saw him start to stalk towards me, face twisted in fury.

"I mean Keiji-Oji-san," Nope, still mad.

"Keiji-san?" I whispered, voice cracking, as I tried to shrink away from him.

He stopped a few feet away, his face a mask of pure sadistic satisfaction.

"That's right, you little freak."

The interlude had ended; The wariness that had characterized my life was gone. Now they all knew my weakness – that I was still physically a child – and had an example of what to do when I was scaring them…

My new life didn't look so good anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Life got difficult for me after that day.

I got smacked around quite a bit, for no reason other than my creepiness, and I found it harder to feel safe in this quiet little town.

But I was strong.

I _will_ _be_ strong.

If they planned to treat me this way then fine, I'd raise myself. I was tough and resourceful, and I'd live my life to the best of my abilities.

I never needed them anyway.

The only person I didn't quite resent was my cousin, Ryuuji, who showed a surprising amount of determination for a little squirt. When everyone first told him to stay away from me, and even to hit me if I tried to get too close, he refused. He even tried to defend me!

The fact that he caved and started to spurn me after about a month didn't matter to me. Most kids listened to everything their parents said the first or second time, but Ryuuji didn't listen till the fiftieth or hundredth time. He was just a pure, kind soul and I didn't ever blame him when he ignored me.

On his birthday I left a little box of something I'd gotten (*ahem* stolen) in town in his room during the night. He never actually kept anything I gave him, since he couldn't hide the gifts for his parents who in turn used them as Akira hitting ammo the next morning, but it's the thought that counts.

* * *

I continued living with my aunt, uncle and Ryuuji till I was four, and during that time I learned a lot of things.

I snuck in and out of the house using a combination of parkour, lock picking and planning ahead. I had learned a bit about the last two in my previous life, enough that it only took a couple months to become proficient, but the first one was all new to me.

Sure, I'd _seen_ people do it on TV and in anime, but actually _doing_ it was a whole different ball game.

I practiced climbing tall buildings, jumping and landing on different surfaces at different angles and using my surroundings to get up above ground _fast_. It wasn't due to my determination so much as necessity; Up high on the roofs and running along walls was where I was safest, as no one could follow me up. They realized this quickly and decided to practice their aim on a moving target whenever they saw me though. The only thing that prevented me from breaking my neck those first few times was my ability to sense the people before I saw them, giving me time to flee.

To make a long (and bloody) story short, I got pretty good at running, hiding and dodging.

After the first night I was locked out of the house I kept my window propped open slightly with a pebble jammed into it in such a way that it still looked closed, so my aunt ("Michiyo-san") and uncle ("Keiji-san") wouldn't notice. I could get up to the window If I climbed (more like scrambled, I wasn't exactly too graceful considering I'd learned how to do this through pure trial and error) up some decrepit dumpsters and a rickety fire escape, then did a flying squirrel sort of jump onto my window ledge. I made sure to sneak out at the first sign of life in the house, and come around to the front to wait for my aunt to open the door and shove some food in my direction. This was also learned through trial and error, as I nearly got caught sleeping in my bed due to a couple amateur mistakes: making noise, leaving a messy bed, sleeping to late etc.

My weird people sensing powers came in handy, as I could tell when people started to move around in the house before I could hear them, and so I started to fine-tune it. I began to get better at it, to the point where I could tell if someone was sleeping or awake through the rhythm of their aura and could recognize familiar people.

Now convinced that I wasn't imaging it, I decided to sneak into the local library for more information, and I nearly fainted when I got there.

Right above the reception desk there was a map, a map that should _not_ be there.

It was a map of the elemental nations.

* * *

After slipping past the Librarian when she turned around turned around to grab some books she was sorting I zipped around, picking up history books and atlas's to double check my fledgling theory.

I was right.

I was in the elemental nations.

Sitting there, wedged between to bookcases, I let my mind whirl at the implications of this discovery.

I'm not sure if I did end up fainting, nor am I sure how long I sat there, but after a while I came back to my senses and started studying the books in more detail. I had always assumed that my knowledge from my previous schooling years would have had me covered, but with this discovery I realized that I was sorely lacking in vital skills. Well, better late than never (though part of my brain reminded me that I wasn't even technically three years old here, which isn't exactly _late_).

It was that same day that I first stole something: three notebooks.

I decided to write down everything I knew in English, in case I forgot anything, but I didn't have anything to write on. So I snuck into the storeroom of a bookstore in town and took out a couple nondescript notebooks – that were sold at multiple stores so that no one could figure out where I got them just by looking – and filled them with everything I knew. Just in case, I wrapped all three in wrapping paper I made from cutting up an old paper bag, then slipped two of them into plastic bags and another layer of wrapping paper. There was actually only one notebook's worth of information, the others were copies in case the first got destroyed. The first one, which only had one layer of wrapping paper, I kept with me in a shoulder bag that my aunt had abandoned and let me have, and the others I hid. One was in an old electricity box for an abandoned shack at the edge of town, the other I buried in the forest outside the village in a large tin candy box I had found.

Satisfied, I started a new training regime.

I would spend the morning running around town doing borderline (*cough* very) illegal things, such as pick pocketing and full-blown thievery, to get what I needed. I had some clothes which where hand me downs from Ryuuji – who I was still fond of and I therefore didn't mind wearing his clothes, even if they were too big and covered in holes and stains – so I didn't steal any of those. Instead I stole little things, like a stick of grilled meat, a roll of bandages or a pencil and pick pocketed a couple coins here and there so that occasionally I could buy something, to ward off suspicion.

As I ran around I practiced slight of hand and learned how to distract people while I robbed them blind. My favorite trick was flicking a pebble fast enough in one direction, preferably at something that would make a lot of noise when hit, then pocket my loot as I strolled of in the other direction.

I got caught sometimes though, so I got even better at running, climbing and hiding while my chakra sensing was always helping with my frantic escapes.

I had determined that my awareness of auras, as I had been calling them, was actually me sensing chakra. I wondered if my father had been from a shinobi clan with sensing abilities (because it definitely didn't come from my mother's side) or if the lack of chakra in my previous life just made me more aware of it now. I decided it was probably the later, since ninja can train to sense people to a similar degree as my sensing ability (Haruno Sakura could, at least).

Still, I was woefully uneducated and so I sought to fix this.

In the afternoon, after a lunch of stolen food, I snuck into the library and read. I read books on history, biology, economics, and politics, though nothing on anything shinobi related. It seems that ninja kept a tight leash on information flow.

I first concentrated on expanding my kanji repertoire though, and started with nutrition and child development guides with a kanji dictionary for help. I wanted to make sure that I didn't end up permanently damaging my body due to my own negligence after all. I learned what to eat and how to exercise properly. I then added these strengthening stretches (which reminded me of yoga) to my morning routine.

After hours of studying, I would occasionally go to the old, and practically abandoned shrine a little outside the village. There was only one old blind man living there, who I just called "Ossan" and who just called me "Akira", no –chan as it was "too god damn girly" according to Ossan. He was the only one who called me by my name these days.

* * *

The first time I saw him, I was three and a half, and some older kids were tormenting him by throwing things at him and trying to disorient him or trip him. Disgusted with the cruelty of children, I shimmied up to and started throwing the acorns up there at them in return. This went of for a bit before they actually noticed someone was hitting _them_, giving me plenty of time to improve my aim to the point that every acorn hit a kid. When the stopped throwing things and stood still, determined to find where they were being attacked from, I stopped too. As soon as they started up again I did too. This cycle repeated itself till one kid started whimpering about shrine spirits and the whole lot was scrambling out of there before you could say "Buddha".

Before I could shimee down from the roof, a gruff voice stopped me.

"Ya think bullying squirts is a good thing, Gaki?"

Turning towards the old man, I tried to determine how sure he was that I was here. Considering that his body was turned towards me and his face was locked on to my location, it seemed like he was pretty sure where I was.

"You've got pretty good senses," I responded, ignoring the question in favor of prodding for information. It was rare for people with sight to see me when I didn't want to be seen, but this blind man could. How?

"Don't ignore the question, Gaki."

Smirking at his growling retort, I answered simply, "No, I don't."

"Then why'd ya do it?" He asked, seemingly unsurprised by my response.

"Because I wanted to keep the kids away from here for good."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to," I retorted calmly, "But maybe it actually wasn't necessary. How did you figure out where I was?"

He just snorted and started muttering about loud, disrespectful brats.

"Ah, I see," was all I answered. He had heard me. Got to work on that. Jumping down from my perch I turned towards the shrine and sent up a prayer towards whoever the Gods of this dimension were. After my reincarnation, I had become much more religious (which isn't saying much, considering I was atheist before) and I wanted to thank them and ask for forgiveness for my underhanded ways. Mostly I just wanted to thank them. I was lucky to have been born with my mature mind, I wouldn't have survived this long without it.

He didn't say anything while I prayed, instead he just went around sweeping up trash and left me to my business.

He wasn't mean to me though, and if felt like I was getting a breath of fresh air after drowning in the harsh reality of my new life. I didn't even notice how oppressive the village felt until I was freed from it.

Turning towards him I bowed low, for the first time in my life, and murmured "Goodbye, Ossan" before turning away and sprinting through the forest, determined to revel in the freedom a little longer.

He stopped me just before I left.

"What's ya name, Gaki?"

I paused, not turning around.

"Saito Akira," I responded, prepared to never return now that he knows who I am. I will never hide my name though. This was the name my mother gave me, and I'll wear it with pride.

Instead of the verbal abuse I was expecting, all I got was a grunt.

_Now_ I turned around. He was still sweeping, his backed turned, but he stopped after a second as if he sensed my gaze.

"What were ya expecting me to say, Akira?"

I stood there, frozen. He called me by my name. It had been over a year since I've heard it. In an instant I'm overwhelmed with emotions I had thought were locked up too tightly to feel tears start to slip down my cheeks. I can't believe how much that tiny bit of acceptance, that one little word meant to me. Horrified at my loss of control, I just turn around to run away.

But my mouth has a mind of it's own, because it manages to slip out a waterlogged "Arigatou."

I don't stay to hear his response.

After that, it became a ritual of mine to sneak up to the shrine to pray. I never lost my composure again, and I was infinitely grateful Ossan never brought it up. Despite my attachment to the place and its grouchy caretaker I never stayed for long –though I did regularly donate a few coins to the shrine and bought some sandalwood prayer beads, with a pale orange tassel, from Ossan that I wore every day. While he never said anything back, I always left with a low bow and a quiet "Arigatou" or "Arigatou, Ossan".

I didn't go to the shrine every day though since a few other villagers also visited and I didn't want to scare them away.

Ossan asked me about it once and I told him as much, and I like to think he was sympathetic. Though it's hard to tell, he was a rather grumpy fellow.

* * *

When I wasn't at the shrine in the afternoon, I would wander around, stealing a bit more and mapping out escape routes and just spying on people in general. While I did live in a village, we were on the main trade rout that went directly Konoha and therefore were quite wealthy, money wise and information wise.

It was on one of those meanderings, when I was four years old, that I sensed three large chakra reserves coming towards the village at alarming speeds, which I immediately dubbed "Shinobi". Curious, I changed my course and wiggled my way up onto a roof overlooking the main street to wait them out. I wasn't disappointed: the ninja slowed down when they reached the town and hoped onto ground level and a couple minutes later they came walking down the street.

I was rather shocked to see who they were: the original Ino-Shika-Cho. They wandered through, waving at some shopkeepers familiarly and being generally friendly.

Inoichi laughed as smiled the most, answering questions and apologizing for not returning for "two years! Wow time really flies doesn't it?"

Shikaku was much more stoic, though he did smile at the little kids that ran up to great the "Shinobi-samas".

Chouza was friendly, but much more interested in buying food than catching up with old friends, which I understood completely. Yamamoto-san made some kick-ass dumplings.

My musing was cut short when I felt the store owner of the building I was camping on right outside the rooftop door. Cursing my stupidity, and that I'd let myself get so distracted, I practically threw myself off the roof just as the man started to turn the nob. I jumped into an ally between the two stores where I new there was a window with a metal grating cover, grabbing the metal bars with my bandaged hands (something I had stolen from Rock Lee, they were quite helpful) and letting my feet slam into the building. The entire process was actually pretty silent, as my feet made just a small scuff noise and the grate only let out a small creak. Keeping up the momentum, I pushed off the wall and swung around to grab onto the metal telephone pole, sliding down it and jumping off when I was about five feet off the ground. I peeked upwards when I felt the store owner come closer to the ledge, as if he was going to check what the noise had been, before sliding under a dumpster quickly. By the time the owner checked, I was well hidden. Snorting and muttering to himself about "that damn brat" he turned away, indirectly informing me that my lookout had been compromised. Annoyed by the general failures of the day, I took off in a jog towards the shrine, hoping to pray for better fortune, and feeling out the way with the least amount of people.

My shrine visit was cut short as I felt the trio of jonin head towards the shrine. I debated whether I could just run into the forest randomly without raising suspicious, but quickly decided no. Instead I just decided to meander down the road as if I was going for a walk, pass them, and be on my merry little way.

It didn't quiet work out as I'd hoped.

When I came into view, Chouza immediately perked up and waved at me. I looked behind me on reflex – no one _waved_ to me – but as I already knew no one was behind me. I returned the wave with an unsure nod, that just about screamed 'I have no idea who you are, please don't talk to me' but he must have been convinced that I was shy or something because he followed up with a jolly "Hello!"

"Hi," I said without any enthusiasm whatsoever, further giving off a 'get away from me you're weirding me out' vibe.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" He asked with a smile. What is with this dude? Was he really just that friendly?

"Walking." I deadpanned.

He just laughed and stopped in my path, Shikaku and Inoichi flanking him so that it was impossible for me to move around them without being obviously rude.

Inoichi spoke up this time, "I can see that, but where are your parents? They must be worried about you."

"They're dead."

Now they all looked slightly nervous. Good. I was used to putting people on edge; I could deal with this. Now they just were going to stutter awkwardly and leave…

"Well, who takes care of you? They must be worried."

Seriously, are these guys immune to social cues?

Deciding to just get strait to the point I said, "My aunt and uncle, and not really. Could you move out of the way? I have placed to be."

Without further ado, I just walked around them and refused to look at them anymore, even when I felt my hackles rise at their probing stares.

Shinobi are freaking annoying.

* * *

Shikaku POV

He noticed their little observer the moment they stepped onto the road of course.

The child, who he couldn't see much of other than a tangled, choppy mess of dark hair that looked like it had been sheared off with safety scissors and two sharp green eyes that poked over the edge of a rooftop ledge wasn't exactly subtle.

No need for it here it seems, as no one else seemed to notice the child, besides Inoichi and Chouza of course.

Amused, he ignored the child, letting them have their fun. It wasn't rare for children to be wary of someone that looked like him.

It was only when the shop owner down the way noticed the child on the roof that he got worried.

The shop owner e stomped across the way to inform the building owner that the "freaky little girl" was on his roof. The building owner spun around and marched into his shop. The girl on the roof abruptly shot out of her hiding space and jumped of the roof into the ally. Shocked at the sudden change in events he started forward, only to stop when he saw the calculating gleam in her eye and how she latched onto the window with practiced precision. She then proceeded to gracefully hop down onto the ground and landed in a crouch, much like a cat, with one little wrist adorned with a small beaded bracelet wrapped around the strap of a olive green bag as is to double check the sack's whereabouts.

He took a second to reevaluate her. She wore two shirts that were slightly too big, one dull stained T-shirt and an equally grimy undershirt sleeve poking out from under and a pair of knee length shorts that seemed to only stay on thanks to the heavy sawed off bit of leather that couldn't really be considered a belt anymore. She and bandages wrapped up to her elbow, so not much could be seen of her arms, but her legs were covered in little scratches and dust.

He only got a flash of her face, and the only thing he could remember was her toxic green eye, filled with a sort of cynicism and experience that no child her age should have, before she scurried under a dumpster to hide from the searching gaze of the store owner on the roof. As soon as the store owner returned to his store, she was out and running down the back alleys.

Looking back at his companions, he noticed their shock and concern. Without so much as a word to the others, they decided to follow the retreating child.

He was even more surprised by her destination: the old shrine. What child her age goes to a shrine?

She only stayed there for a moment, before slowly returning to the village, which was also odd. Why sprint all the way to a shrine you're not even going to spend five minutes at, then turn back the way you came?

In the back of his mind he started running through theories as they approached the child.

Chouza took the lead, being the most approachable of the three, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Instead of smiling or waving like a normal little girl (which she most obviously was not, seeing as she wasn't a day over five and strolling through the woods like she owned the place) she looked behind her and back at Chouza as if to say, "Who, me?" before nodding in an equally off-putting and awkward way. It was actually rather impressive how easy she was making it for them to ignore her, as if she would prefer for them to shuffle by uncomfortably than to respond.

Chouza persevered, calling out a greeting that was returned with a greeting that made the atmosphere even more strained. She had to be doing this on purpose.

His theory was confirmed with her curt responses that were made in the most anxious conversation he had ever had with a child, before she strut around them without a second glance, ignoring their questioning gaze.

What an interesting child.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Shikaku and crew returned periodically over the next couple months as they had been doing up until my birth (or so I heard, as I wasn't actually there, _obviously_) before _something_ prevented them from coming as regularly during the early years of my life, though no one seemed to know what, as they just accepted the Shinobi's (rather lame) "we were busy" excuse. Everyone in the village was just so delighted that the visits had recommenced that they really didn't bother to care about _why_ the visits had ever stopped.

I had my suspicions but I didn't have much proof.

Since it was pretty obvious that the trio weren't dropping by for fun, and they didn't seem to actually do any missions when they came, but after their arrival my village (which, after a 'duh-why-didn't-I-notice' moment, I realized was _the_ Crater City, a village that Naruto and Jiraya visited in their search for Tsunade) suddenly started exporting way more goods in the direction of Konoha. I quickly put two and two together: The village must be selling them the products for cheaper in exchange for VIP attention from Konoha.

So what would cause Konoha to stop buttering up a rich trading village that supplied them with a lot of cheap products?

Only one thing came to mind: The Kyubi attack.

After doing some math, and some digging, I found out that the visits had suddenly stopped a little over two years ago, though they had passed through briefly on a mission. So, two years ago there was the Kyubi attack, and therefore the birth of Naruto, and I was four… Oh my god, I'm only two years older than Naruto!

No no no no no! Not good!

Now I had to live through all that crazy, earth nearly being destroyed mayhem!

I should have realized this, but secretly I'd been hoping I had been born way before or after the storyline. The most I'd ever pondered the possibility was when I filled my notebooks, of which I was infinitely grateful for now. At least I knew how best to avoid the craziness.

While I felt like there should have been some earth-shaking event to accompany my epiphany, nothing changed; The villagers did their thing and I studied my library books, which I had borrowed for an indefinite period of time (*ahem* stolen). The Ino-Shika-Cho trio came and were fawned over while I, on the other hand, avoided them like the plague. Normal life continued on.

Whenever the nosy ninja were in the village I would be in the forest, living off of the land thanks to some foresting and hunting books I'd found lying around (on a store shelf with a price tag, but that's beside the point).

Luckily, whenever the Ino-Shika-Cho trio did show up everyone was too busy waving and smiling at the amazing "Inoichi-sama", praising the genius of "Shikaku-sama" and offering food to the radiantly rotund "Chouza-sama" to notice my extended absences.

I chose to sneak away only after letting the trio catch a glimpse of me, making a point to show that I noticed them, since I didn't want them to realize I was avoiding them thanks to my special ability. Who knows, they did they could decide that a young and malleable kenkai-genkai user would be useful to Konoha and I had absolutely no desire to go down that road.

If they _did_ try to follow me though, I would just run through the forest and around the village till they got tired and left me alone, which, if they asked any villagers, I did everyday anyway.

During one of their visits I left my Michiyo-san and Keiji-san's house for good.

It was a particularly annoying time for them to arrive, as it was close to dinner time and so I was crouched on the front porch, awaiting my share. I didn't always receive it as Michiyo seemed to go through erratic periods of generosity and disgust towards me, but I waited today because it was a very special day.

Michiyo-san made homemade tempura.

Say what you will about the woman, but her tempura was _heavenly_. Crispy and just the right amount of batter, cooked _just_ right and served with her delicious sauce that had the infamous "secret ingredient".

Oh Kami, I _dreamed_ about this tempura.

So I waited, crouched at the door despite the fact that my pride took a huge blow when I had to wait outside like a dog – no, like a _pig_ – awaiting scraps.

But it would be all worth it when I got my tempura, which I _was_ going to get one way or another.

My plans spiraled out of control when I felt my Uncle came home, drunk as a fish. He was swinging his legs and shuffling around in that odd way drunks do, while his arms flopped around and sake sloshed out of the bottle in his grimy hand. I felt a pang of sympathy for just how _wretched_ he looked, like his heart had been torn out and he was scrambling around trying to patch up the wound – or at least disinfect it with copious amounts of alcohol. I didn't move, as there was plenty of room to get around me and I didn't think he had enough hand eye coordination to get a hit on me at them moment.

That was a big mistake.

Just as he was about to pass me, his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist in a vice grip that ground my bones together painfully. I let out a cry in shock as he dragged me up and threw me against the railing of the porch.

"Why'de she leave…" He was growling.

"She"? Who's that? I wondered as I tried to twist my wrist out of his grasp. The move backfired, as the squirming just made him tighten his fingers. I felt something snap, and then waves of pure agony shot down my arm. Tears sprung to my eyes and I let out a chocked sob.

My wrist, he'd _broken_ my wrist, and he was still holding on to it, squeezing the broken bone.

I couldn't do anything, I couldn't move. For the first time in years I felt weak and helpless.

"Wit that fuckn' _Shnobi,"_ he slurred, continuing on as if nothing had happened, "she went wit _him_ and gave birth ta _you_."

"Keiji-sa–" I whispered, pleading for him to stop. It just _hurt_ so much.

Instead he threw me over the railing.

There was a brief moment of weightlessness and confusion before I figured out what had happened. Quickly, I rolled my body on instinct to soften the fall, but my wrist twinged in pain and caused me to fumble the landing. I ended up rolling across the road, my wounded arm held protectively to my chest, before eventually slamming my uninjured palm to the ground to stop myself.

Gasping from the pain and adrenalin, I peered fearfully back up at Keiji, who was continuing his monologue.

"Today waz the day…" He said mournfully, but his face twisted in fury a second later and he started to wind up to throw the sake bottle at me.

"WHYYYYY?" He screamed as he threw the liquor bottle towards me.

I don't know if it was just luck or Keiji really was that good, but the bottle almost hit me smack in the head. I avoided it by a hair, causing it to smash against the ground and send pieces flying everywhere. A few scrapped my skin, but lucking my baggy clothing and bandages protected the majority of my body.

Tears burned my eyes as I fled from the house.

I was never going to go back there.

I didn't need them anyway.

I didn't need _anyone_.

* * *

That was the night I left the village for good.

My feet had taken me directly to the shrine because despite my fervent denial of needing anyone I still had a broken wrist and no idea how to splint it (the part of me that wasn't raving mad pointed out that because I didn't actually know that Ossan knew how to fix broken bones so that _definitely _was not why I went to him… but I ignored it). It turns out Ossan knew some medical ninjutsu, which he claimed to have "picked up" in his travels (I didn't believe him, but I didn't care enough to pry).

As I sat underneath the stars while Ossan treated me I thought of what life would be like for me if I had been reborn into an animal. Wasn't it odd that, of all the creatures my soul had been stuffed into, it had been a human? And a female one at that. Why not a wolf, a bird or a cat? If I had been a bird, I could have been free to do and live how I wanted and never had to worry about anything more than my next meal or the occasional predator. I would have lived easily, especially with my intelligence. I would bird so smart it could live easily and fly freely. It would have been amazing. So why, of all things, did it have to be trapped in this body? Trapped in this village and society? Why couldn't I just fly free…

I frowned at that thought. Hold on… I was missing something here.

Why couldn't I just get up and leave? No one is forcing me to stay, so if there is no real reason for me to stay in Crater City, why should I? Was there really anything in this village worth staying for?

Ossan was the only one I cared about, but while I cared for him was he reason enough to live here? The "bad" in this village seriously outweighed the "good", AKA, "Ossan" for me. It wasn't enough for me.

I was no Naruto. I couldn't smile while other beat me down and I couldn't continue to fight for acceptance when I was so obviously not wanted. I mean I stole for a living… I _stole, _even though in my previous life I would never have done so. I could never have taken what another human could have needed simply because I wanted it. I told myself I stole to live but did I really? Did I really need a dumpling or a snack, did I really need 3 notebooks? Well, maybe a little, but I didn't even think twice about the thievery nowadays.

There was no doubt that this village was changing me, and I wasn't sure it was for the better.

I could survive on my own too; I knew that from my impromptu camping trips I could survive off the land and it was unlikely anyone would attack me, a poor little child, while on the road. Humans may not be perfect but 99.9% of the population would rather not hurt a child, and 99% wouldn't attack me if I had nothing of value to offer. I was willing to risk it with those odds.

So, should I stay?

No.

The answer was easy, almost too easy. I had decided something life changing the world was still spinning. Nothing had really changed, even now. We always feel like time delicate and change is so huge, but time is the sturdiest most consistent thing in the world, while change is miniscule when you compare it to everything else in the world.

Ossan took his hands off my arm and I was started out of my thoughts. I looked up at him and down at my arm again, flexing my fingers on instinct.

"How's it feel?"

"Not bad. It twinges a bit but doesn't hurt anymore," I responded as I examined my arm closely. It looked fine too.

"The bone's mended, but it'll be sore for a day or two," He continued.

I nodded to show my understanding and, after a pause, looked into his eyes.

"Thanks, Ossan, for everything," I said, conveying everything I had decided just moments before through nothing more than my tone of voice.

He didn't say anything for a while, just sat there with his typical scowl, like he was debating whether or not to stop me.

He finally decided and said, "Anytime, Akira."

I smiled at that. He was letting me go, but was offering me a home here. Maybe not a home in the literal sense, with four walls and a roof, but a home base, somewhere to sink my anchor while navigated this wild, chaotic world. And I knew, instantly, that I would return. Maybe not anytime soon, but someday I would come back here to rest.

But not tonight.

I leaned over and gave a brief hug to Ossan, who accepted it graciously considering I'd never done something like that before, before straitening my spine and walking back to the village to get my things.

I had most of my essential stuff with me already, which consisted of my survival kit complete with fist aid supplies, an all purpose seax knife, a lighter and kindling stashed in a small fanny-pack like bag around my waist (another idea stolen from Shinobi), but my Notebook, books, water bottle and changes of clothes were in the old bag my aunt gave me. The bag was large and made me a bigger target (literally, there was more of me to hit when I wore it) so occasionally I stashed it somewhere instead of carrying it around. Currently, it was on the roof of Toketsu Shira's house in the middle of town, so I headed there first. Getting up and down in the dark wasn't too easy, but I managed well enough and was on way out of the village when I thought of the other notebooks.

Should I leave them or take them? It was a hard decision, as I wasn't sure which one would be safer. By now grass and shrubs had grown over the one I'd buried in the forest, so it was extremely unlikely anyone but me could ever find it, but the one in the electrical box was easy to find, though it was unlikely anyone would look there or even know what the package was if they found it.

Decisions, decisions.

I took the easy way out and I compromised: I'd leave the one that was harder to get the one in the easier to take.

I changed course and picked up my little package then paused, pulling out my map (courtesy of Crater City Public Library), and trying to decide where to go.

My first reaction was to go in any direction but towards Konoha, but maybe that wasn't the best idea.

In the opposite direction from Konoha there was the Land of Earth, with the Lands of Waterfalls, Grass and Rain in between, all of which were not ideal places to explore. Directly east there was a series of small countries that I could travel through, but that wouldn't work for multiple reasons. First off, I'd have to travel through the Land of Rain first, which as I said before was a big "No No", secondly I didn't want to cross too many borders as there would obviously be security to get through which could be tricky, and thirdly these little countries were sandwiched between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, neither of which were too fond of the Land of Fire and would also mean I was likely to run into Shinobi from Suna or Iwa.

So North/Northeast and East were all a big fat no.

Southeast wasn't ideal either, because while the Land of Fire's border was with the Land of Rivers, the Land of wind was right next to that and I didn't fancy being smack in the middle of Konoha and Suna.

But the South and Southwest meant getting closer to Konoha…

Then again the Land of Sound, and therefore Orochimaru, was to the West and there was no way in HELL I was going anywhere remotely close to that pedo. It didn't matter that I could go to neighboring countries that were completely unrelated to the enormous Plot I was avoiding, there was no way I'd ever walk in that direction willingly.

Taking that all into account, the South or Southwest was probably the best option even if it was closer to Konoha.

But if I was going to walk near Konoha, I wasn't going to stay nearby; I would initially walk to the to the Southwest to get to the strip of land that connected to the Land of Noodles and the Land of Tea, then head sharply south and cross the border to the Land of Tea, as it was farther away from the Hidden Mist Village. The Hidden Mist Village was in the Land of Water, which was a group Island, but I'm willing to bet they also had some influence on other countries close to them like the other Hidden Villages. Guess what country was incredibly close to them? The Land of Noodles. So despite it's delicious name I should probably go to the Land of Tea, and maybe even cross the sea to the one of the Islands off the coast if I found I was still to close to the Plot. Actually, I was still a little iffy about where I wanted to end up.

It wasn't a perfect plan, not by a long shot, but it was solid enough. Plus, it would take me months of non-stop walking to even reach the Land of Tea's border, so I had plenty of time to change my mind and learn more about the land and politics of the world. It was a flexible plan that would be easy to improvise and change, and so maybe it _was_ the perfect plan for the situation.

So, Southwest it was.

I cut through the edges of the town to the road that ultimately led in that direction, according to my handy dandy map, passing near my aunt and uncle's house. I left a note with paper from my non-plot Notebook that read:

"Sayonara dumbasses ~

\- Saito Akira"

But, in a brief moment of sentimentality, I left a note for Ryuji in his not-so-secret candy stash that said:

"Bye-bye, Ryuji-Nii,

I wish you a long and happy life. I'll always remember you as the kid that tried to stand up for me. You were brave, braver than you realize, and you still are. Don't loose that, OK?

Take care,

\- Akira"

I tried to draw butterflies and hearts on the note, because Ryuji was still a kid and liked cute things, but my hand slipped and the first butterfly and it came out a little wonky, with an a huge body and little wings, and decided against decorating.

I couldn't just leave the decrepit butterfly on my last message to my cousin _ever, _so I tried to salvage it by coloring the tip with a lime green colored pencil, one of the few colors I had, to make it into a firefly. There, much better.

* * *

It was well past midnight by the time I got to the sign that read "Thank you for visiting Crater City" with jolly designs surrounding the letters.

I stared at it for a moment, then turned around and looked over the city I had spent the first four and a half years living in.

Crater City was an apt description for the town, as the entirety fit into the crater whose edge I was currently standing on, which should have been an amazing sight but I all I could feel was mild disgust for the town and excitement towards my future.

It was an amazing feeling really. It took me four years a lot of hardship, but I was finally excited to be alive. I was ready to move on, past my previous life and past my dysfunctional family, and despite the trauma of earlier that night I was truly happy to be alive.

Flipping my middle fingers up in the air, I spun around and yelled, "SAYONARA CRATER CITY!"

Time to start a new, happier, chapter in my life. I would live alone, without responsibility of taking care of others and without relying on anyone else, and be truly happy.

I felt a bit like a true lone wolf yelling up at the moon like that and, energized by that thought, ran off into the night.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Sorry for the wait!

I actually had to rewrite this chapter because the old one went down a dark and angsty path, and I wasn't quite sure if I liked it. In the end, I decided to go a slightly different road.

If you've read my other story, "This Wasn't Part of the Plan", you'll know that my life is currently pretty complicated (and that I won't bore you with the details because this story is not my personal soap opera) so updates will be slow.

Reviews make the world go round (and inflate my ego)!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

I continued traveling all night but by the time the sun started rising I was exhausted. I had been up since dawn yesterday and I needed to rest, so I peeled of the road and looked for a camping area.

I found a nice little place to nap that wasn't visible from the road and just collapsed right then and there. I had never felt so exhausted in my life. I felt like all of my emotions were wrung out and empty and my brain was turned to mush, so I didn't even think of preparing some food or water for myself.

I slept for most of the day but awoke with enough light that I could go hunting and gathering for my dinner, or breakfast I guess, and refill my water bottle.

Both were harder than normal that day because I tried to find water and prey with my chakra sense.

As I honed my chakra sense I had started to feel a faint warm buzzing, for lack of a better word, coming from every natural thing. I still wasn't sure if I was just imagining the feeling but I when tried to stretch my senses to feel the warm buzzing in more detail I wasn't disappointed.

When I concentrated very, very hard I started to feel slight variations in the warm buzzing, which was probably actually nature chakra.

Some bits were warmer and some buzzed and moved faster, it was always specific to what the nature chakra belonged to, but even with the different feelings coming off the chakra it was extremely hard to tell what was what.

This was because, unlike human chakra, natural chakra was exchanged and moved throughout the natural world constantly making everything connected and buzzing. I tried once to close my eyes and walk around but ended up just walking into things and tripping every five seconds. When everything was faintly buzzing, even the air, it was hard to tell what was solid and what was just a brief tendril of chakra.

Perhaps it was the combination of a dreamy brain and a new outlook on life, but when I woke up and stretched my senses to double check for intruders, I had a passing thought that made a lot of sense: Even if I couldn't see everything with my chakra sense well enough to navigate with my eyes closed, I could still sense things and walk with my eyes open.

Duh.

I felt like such an idiot. Maybe I couldn't sense everything in the natural world so clearly I didn't need sight, but there was no rule that I needed to have my eyes closed when I sensed chakra.

Closing my eyes was a reflex, but I fought against it and tried to feel and see at the same time.

I couldn't do it. My chakra sense was weak and flickering when I kept my eyes open.

Sitting there, still drowsy from my nap, I frowned in annoyance.

Sure, maybe I was getting ahead of myself by thinking I could improve so quickly but it didn't make failure any less frustrating. I didn't expect to be able to differentiate between different types of plants just yet but I wanted to be able to find water, which felt particularly cold and fast fluid, and an animal, which always felt particularly warm and solid.

While I worked I tried my best to keep my eyes open and sense, determined to improve, so it took me much longer than normal to get my water and a meager handful or two of edible plants. I had been so distracted that I had lost my prey 3 times and had tripped twice, so by the time I returned to home base I was pissed.

The food could last me for about one meal, maybe one and a snack if I made it into a broth, but wouldn't taste very good without any meat to thicken it.

Sighing I got to work again, starting a fire and heating up my metal bowl that I also used as a frying pan, pot and plate when camping and, while the bowl got hot, started chopping up my roots and herbs with my seax knife. I loved my seax knife, it was large and sturdy, with a simple wood handle and could be used for any project, so after I finished chopping I carefully cleaned it and sheathed it. Then I put my chopped wild garlic, herbs and a little bit of water into the pan and left it to cook for a moment or two, carful to leave my water bottle close to the fire so it would heat up. Then the roots went in and I tried to cook them completely without burning them, which was considerably harder when you couldn't turn down the heat like on a stove, and added a lot of now warm water to make the broth when I saw the edges turn from "nicely browned" to "suspiciously dark".

Hopefully it wasn't _too_ burned.

I left it to stew for a good half an hour while I got more water and washed my hands and face, but even with all that time stewing the broth was weak, tasteless and bitter, while the chunks of plants were no better.

I really should have gotten some dried fish or meat back at the village as emergency food, it was stupid of me to think I could find enough food every day.

Well, I'll learn from my mistake. Each day I'll gather as much food as possible and preserve it in case there is a day when food is scarce. If I manage to get any meat or fish I should dry it… but I didn't know how to do that.

Next on the to do list: find a bookstore or meat shop at a nearby town and find out how to dry meat.

I made sure not to finish all the soup so that I could eat some for my "lunch" tonight. My bowl had a handy little cap you could put on it too, so it really was an all-purpose tool like my seax knife.

As I packed up, I started to plan ahead. Traveling at night, though an accident at first, was probably best for me. There would be less people to run into and I would be moving when it was cold instead of sleeping.

Oh, another note to self: Get warmer sweater and a blanket. The nights were cold in late autumn and would only get colder this winter.

The problem with traveling at night was that I couldn't deviate from the road, unless I wanted to get lost or run into things in the dark, so I couldn't walk directly to my destination. Instead I'd have to follow all the twists and turns of the road, but in the end it was a small price to pay.

* * *

After three months of living on the road I was a pro at hunting and survival.

I had a small, carefully wrapped and preserved stash of meat and fish, a small sac of rice and a larger container of dried fruit and nuts for emergencies plus a nice assortment of herbs for flavor. I had also gotten another pot from a dump, so that I could make more complicated meals. The handle had fallen off but the pot worked fine after a good scrubbing.

My chakra sense had improved in a lot of ways too. My maximum range was huge now, at least 3 or 4 kilometers around me were included now, and I could sense people, with my eyes open, from up to half a kilometer away without even trying. My nature chakra sense wasn't quite as improved, but with eyes closed and steady concentration I could sense animals and water now, though I'd have to stop along the way and re-sense their position sometimes since I couldn't do it with my eyes open. Sadly my range for natural chakra was much smaller too: barely a quarter kilometer in every direction. Still, my range and details were improving, albeit slowly.

My clothes, though fine for running around my city, weren't suitable for living on the road and had been changed. Now I wore a warm canvas and fleece vest with a hoodie underneath to keep my warm in the winter. I also had a nice, dark blue beanie and a new pair of pants that, while still baggy, fit me much better than my previous pair. I didn't have to change my shoes, as the still fit, and kept my hands and legs bandaged for both protection and warmth.

I had actually gotten most of these clothes completely legally too, from a myriad of people. I got my sweater and pants from a generous young mother as payment for weeding her garden.

She was sweet and oddly naïve, despite being a single mother so young, so I didn't want to take from her, nor did I want to accept the things out of charity. Instead I offered to help carry her bags home and then to weed her garden, but she then proceeded to give me the clothes, some lunch and a little money too. I stuck around for a week after that, taking care of her and her young son in exchange for food and a couple little bits of pocket money. I fixed her roof and cleaned her house, anything she needed. By the end of the week she looked much less wrung out but I could see her start to question who I was and what a child, so mature yet so young, was doing there. So, after a final payment of a tuna sandwich I was off again.

On the road I ran into an absentminded and clumsy vet who was on his way to treat a dog a few towns over. I offered him some rare herbs that I'd found a couple nights ago and he gave me the vest that he had tried to give to his son, who thought the having a matching canvas vest with his father was "too nerdy". Can't say that I disagreed with the son, matching parents and children are just weird. I traveled with him to his destination, and was rewarded with some money and another pair of pants (which he also had a matching pair for, the weirdo) for helping him along the way.

I used the money from those two to buy me a blanket and some changes of undergarments (easily forgotten but very much needed) and still had some left over.

So only the beanie was stolen, but I took from a spoiled brat who knocked over my takoyaki without saying sorry so it felt more like justice than stealing.

Even after three months of travel, however, I over looked a big problem that was currently staring me in the face: Konoha.

Yes, I know that I was headed in the direction from the beginning but I just assumed I could detour around it. Here's the problem though: all the roads in the area lead to Konoha and there are no roads that go around the city. It reminds me of the TGV railways in France, in my old world, with all of the railways going through Paris.

Leaning against a tree with my map, I tried to find a possible solution.

Now, I could always cut through the forest in between, but that was ninja territory. As I stretched my chakra sense I could already feel dozens of ninja stationed in the area and running through the treetops. Going through the forest would no doubt mean running into a ninja, and what could I say when they asked me what I was doing? No, that wouldn't work.

I could always turn back, and take the long, long way around, but it would take me months to get around. Not to mention I had already passed by a lot of people and ninja already, even while traveling at night, and one of them could notice my odd behavior and stop me. Someone, a civilian I think from their chakra size, already asked me what I was doing a couple nights ago when they saw me walking at night. I made up some excuse about stargazing and they let me go, but since then I'd already had to change my schedule to traveling during the day in the hopes of blending in. That had, unfortunately, made me cross paths with a lot of people recently, many of whom would notice if me again simply because a lone child traveling was memorable.

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it was all my fault. I got lazy and overconfident; I should have been thinking ahead more.

In the end, I guess I'd have to walk to Konoha, walk around its walls to get to the other side.

Doing some quick mental math, I figured it would take me a full day to do that going at the pace I was, or a little less than that if I jogged. Jogging would probably be best, so that I could put as much distance between me and the village by the time the sun set and, if anyone asked, I could say that I was running an errand for my grandpa or something.

I packaged up my map and strapped my shoulder bag down tight so that it didn't smack against my back as I ran and took off in a light jog.

* * *

No one looked twice when I jogged by them, so I was feeling much calmer by the time I reached the village. The concentration of chakra signatures, many much larger than back in any of the cities I'd seen, was a bit intimidating and confusing but as no one spared me a second glance I forced myself to relax.

That was a mistake.

Maybe if I'd been paying a bit more attention I would have noticed the familiar chakra signature headed my way before he was almost on top of me and come up with a better plan than _Avert your eyes, act normal, act normal, act normal, act normal…_

But I didn't.

So I jogged by Yamanaka Inoichi and his daughter.

I almost got by them without them noticing, but when I saw Inoichi's head follow my jogging form I knew I was screwed.

I forced back the urge to run faster, that would only draw more attention to myself, and _prayed_ that he didn't remember me.

Then I heard him say, "Oh, is that you Akira-chan?"

Oh balls.

Nope nope nope, not going to respond.

I kept jogging, head still down, like I didn't recognize the name and still not speeding up.

"Akira-chan? Hey, Akira!" He called out again as I got farther away.

Ok, seems like he's pretty sure it's me. Next plan of action? RUN FOR IT!

I bolted out of there as fast as my legs would take me, which while fast for a child my age was nothing compared to a full grown man, and a ninja at that.

I heard him tell Ino to wait there and a few seconds later I was jerked backwards by the strap of my shoulder bag and held up, like a kitten my the scruff of their neck.

"Let go of me, you Pedo!" I screeched, hoping to shock and embarrass Inoichi into dropping me.

"How am I a pedophile? I'm not even touching you," He shot back.

Damn.

I growled and tried to swing my leg into his face but he just pulled me out of reach, but that wasn't my goal. I undid the latch on my shoulder bag and dropped, using the momentum of the swing to send me rolling away and bolted again. I may have lost a lot of stuff by leaving my bag, but the alternative was much worse.

Now I was much lighter and ran even faster than before, but still it was no match for Inoichi's speed. If I'd thought about it a little more, that would have been obvious but I wasn't thinking; I was panicking.

He scooped me up again, this time grabbing me and holding me up my waist. I swung around, kicked and scratched but his grip didn't falter. I could twist and bend freely but his hands were firmly holding me in place.

"Let. Me. Go," I hissed out.

"No. Why are you running? What are you doing here?" He asked, looking me sternly in the eyes.

"That's none of your goddamn business," I spat.

He plowed on regardless, "Why did you get so far away from home? Where are your aunt and uncle?"

"Fuck off."

That seemed to shock him a bit. He frowned and said, "A young lady shouldn't use that kind of language."

I snorted at that and gave him my signature creepy smirk, "I ain't no lady, old man."

He seemed to decide to ignore that, and repeated his question.

"Where are your aunt and uncle?"

"Who knows, who cares," I shot back, still trying to scratch my way out of his grip.

"Did you run away?"

"Screw off already."

"Why did you run away?"

"Does it look like I'm going to answer your questions? Take the hint, man," I finally hissed.

He just looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before nodding and saying, "OK, looks like you're coming with me."

"WHAT?" I screeched, "No way, Jose! Don't you dare –" aaand he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Great. He grabbed Ino's hand, and held my feet down with the hand still holding my shoulder bag.

"Put me down! This is harassment– no, kidnapping! I'll sue you for unnecessary manhandling!"

He seemed to be ignoring me though as we walked through the gates of the village. I saw Izumo and Kotetsu staring at me and yelled out, "Oi, you just gonna let him do this?"

They did. As did all the villagers we passed by.

I tried hitting as smacking Inoichi's back with my little fists, but it was like hitting a brick wall: My fists hurt and he wall was completely unaffected.

"Who gave you the right to do this, huh? No one. You've got no right to drag me around like a rag doll!"

No effect. I fell limp against his back, sulking.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" I muttered, voice coming out more dejected than I intended.

I stayed silent after that.

I'll admit that I was stuck.

...For now.

Because I was getting out of here, next chance I got. Lets see who gets the last laugh, Inoichi.

Ino looked back at me a few times, her round innocent eyes and face nervous as she peaked back at me. I just ignored her at first, but when she nearly tripped a couple times from not paying attention I locked eyes with her and said, "Eyes front, Princess," which caused her to squeak and scuttle forward in fear. I smirked at that. I was back and terrifying weak minds and children.

Maybe not the best pastime, but hey, I'll work with what I got.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"Where did you get these things?"

I fidgeted in my seat but Inoichi's hands clamped down on my shoulders, reminding me I was surrounded without escape.

Maybe I should explain? Right.

Inoichi had carried me through the village to the Hokage tower, where we met Shikaku who was doing Jonin Commander business. Shikaku had taken one look at our set up and told Inoichi to leave Ino with him and head up to the Hokage's office.

Inoichi had done so, but when he had tried to hand my bags over to the Hokage for inspection (one of which I was still wearing, _thank you very much_) I tried to claw my way out of the room. I don't know where I was headed, but it seems like my body immediately tried to jump out the window at the first chance of freedom. Inoichi grabbed me before I got more than a step away from the seat and plopped me back down, and hadn't let me go since, so it seemed like I botched my only attempt at escape for the foreseeable future.

So there I sat, across from the Third Hokage, who had unpacked my two travelling bags and was surveying at the neat assortment of supplies.

As I sat there my hands itched to snatch away the few possessions I had.

My bags and their contents were all I owned, and as my Mom (back in my previous life) had said: "Take care of the things you have." So, despite their second hand status, everything was carefully cared for and had been packed artfully, taking into account what I would use least often and what I might want to grab quickly.

Obviously I was proud of the few things I owned, but I didn't think that the Hokage would be happy to hear about my sticky finger tendencies. Some of the stuff in my bags, like my knife and my first pot, were stolen.

"Whaddya mean?" I asked, hoping to deflect the question.

I looked up at the Hokage's warm brown eyes and narrowed my own on menacingly at his expression; He was looking at me in a kind, but stern, Grandfatherly fashion.

I knew he was just trying to put me at ease, but it's just underhanded to try and remain the good guy while interrogating someone. I wasn't going to be fooled by such an obvious ploy.

"Where did you get these," He motioned at the food portion of my pack, "herbs and meats and such?"

"From the forest," I answered simply. It should have been pretty obvious too; My stuff didn't exactly look like it came from a five star restaurant.

"You got the meat and fish from the forest?"

"Ya, I hunted and dried what I caught to preserve it."

"And the herbs, berries and roots? You gathered them yourself?"

I nodded.

"How did you learn how to do this?"

"From the books," I said, nodding towards the small pile of plant guides, trap making books and animal print guides. He reached over and flipped through them briefly, and I continued, "I taught myself."

He looked up at that, studying me for a moment, before putting down the books and moving on.

"And the knife," He said, picking it up and causing me to stiffen, "You know how to use it?"

It took me a second to process what he meant, but eventually I shook my head and said, "It's a tool, not a weapon."

He nodded and put the knife down, but I stayed stiff. That had been close.

"These supplies look well used, how long have you been away from home?"

I was hesitant to answer his question, so instead said, "Well, a lot of it was second hand to begin with."

"And how long have you been gone?"

"… All winter," I finally mumbled.

"You left before winter? It would have been smarter to wait until spring."

"Well I didn't exactly– " The retort had forced it's way out before I could stop myself, but I managed to slam my mouth shut before I said anything.

"Didn't exactly what?" Inoichi asked this time, leaning over my small frame to look me in the eyes.

I flinched and my hands shot up into a defensive posture on instinct when his large form leaning over me. Inoichi immediately leaned back, looking very bothered by my reaction. I flicked my eyes to the Hokage who looked equally perturbed and felt like slamming my head into the wall.

Way to be subtle, Akira, now they definitely know what happened.

Knowing any attempt to lie would just incriminate me further I glared up at Inoichi and said, "Well, I guess you sorta figured that out."

"What happened?" Asked the Hokage.

"My uncle's got some serious issues," was all I said, turning back towards the Hokage whose eyes flickered down to my wrist, which I was unconsciously massaging slightly.

I pulled my hands apart when I realized what I was doing but it only cemented the Hokage's suspicions.

The Hokage leaned foreword and clasped his hands in thought, before turning to Inoichi and asking, "How did you meet Akira-chan again?"

"My team and I saw her about a 10 months ago on one of our regular missions to Crater City. She caught our eye when she jumped off the roof of a three-story building but when we tried to talk to her she made it clear she didn't want anything to do with us. We saw her briefly on later missions and she always seemed to be running around the forest or streets, but according to the townsfolk that it was normal and that she ran up, down and on buildings all the time," He paused for a moment before adding, "We never saw her with her family."

Well, I see my evasion tactics were successful. That's always nice to hear.

The Hokage seemed have decided something from that statement as he nodded decisively and my spine automatically straitened at the imposing aura suddenly coming off from him.

"You'll stay here, at the orphanage, until we can investigate this situation further," He looked to Inoichi and said, "You, Shikaku-san and Chouza-san are scheduled for another mission to Cater City soon anyway, so we'll move it up to tomorrow. Any objections?"

"None, Hokage-sama," Inoichi said while raised my hands in objection.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second here, I've got an objection! I don't want to stay here!"

"I'll take her to the orphanage now," Inoichi said, obviously ignoring my statement and dragging me towards the door, but I was having none of it.

"I. Said. Wait!" I ordered, my voice coming out with all the force of a grown woman used to people dismissing her and _not taking their shit._ I may look like a child, but deep down I was still the powerful and strong-willed woman from my previous life, and no one was going to ignore _this_ little girl.

Both men stopped at my tone and I continued.

"I do not want to live here, permanently or otherwise, but I can see that you won't let me leave. So, at the very least, let me at least take my things," I said, then, working the sympathy card, I continued to say, "They're all I've ever owned."

Thankfully the Hokage, still slightly shocked by my tone, agreed, but he took away the food, saying I wouldn't need it. I was surprised he didn't take away the knife, but seeing as they let kids run around with them all the time here maybe it wasn't that odd.

As we exited the Hokage building I gripped my bag tightly and studied my surroundings.

Konoha wasn't all that different from Crater City, if you ignored the fact that Crater City in a crater and Konoha wasn't. Though I guess in a few years Konoha would also be in a crater… Hopefully I'd be gone before that happened though.

The orphanage was pretty far away, set up at the edges of the more residential area but that only meant that there were more ninja running around and guarding the walls of the village.

I had hoped that as it was have been closer to one of the gates it would be easier to sneak away, but from the number of strong chakra signatures in the area sneaking out of here will be nigh impossible. But I could work with this; By not attempting to escape now, I could lure them into a sense of false security and, when they least expect it… Bam! Gone like the wind. _Muah ha ha_…

I was startled out of my devilish thoughts when my guide suddenly paused. I looked in front of me to see the gates of the orphanage and I looked up at Inoichi questioningly.

"This will be your new home," He said, with a slight smile and gesturing towards the building.

'Home'? You've got to be kidding me.

I slowly looked back and forth between him and the building, before saying, "Uh huh, whatever you say," showing him just what I thought of that idea.

But as we walked up to the entrance I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag and wondered what the hell I was getting myself into.

* * *

You know how I mentioned that in my previous life I wasn't much of a "kid" person?

Well turns out that they actually had their uses.

Oh, don't get me wrong, children are _annoying_. They scream and yell and poke and prod and have no respect for someone who's _obviously trying to nap_… But they're so fun to tease.

When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was that the orphanage is seriously understaffed, with only 1 full time worker and 2 part-timers, and can't possible care for the 40 odd kids running around. Oh, they tried their best, but the 5 newborns and babies required the attention of at least one adult constantly, leaving the majority to one exhausted Matron.

I actually liked the Matron, weirdly enough. She was the head of the orphanage and had been for many years, so the stress and long hours had worn her down. She wasn't exactly the warmest woman but she got the job done and had a good understanding of children.

She kept the kids fed and clothed plus made sure they all were healthy by getting them to the doctor and dentist regularly, which is frankly impressive on it's own. On top of that, she was constantly changing bed sheets, moping up messes and cooking for a group of picky brats, but she couldn't do all of that and care for the children on a personal and emotional level, so largely she left the kids to their own devices.

When I first arrived I looked at her and saw just how worn thin she was, and she took one look at me understood immediately that I could handle myself. An agreement was reached: I'd fend for myself and she would leave me alone.

After she showed me to my bed and explained the rules of the orphanage she left me alone. Honestly, I thought things were going to be rather low key here. I'd sit in a corner, not talk to anyone, maybe read a few good books…

My mistake.

I should have realized before the older boy came up to me that in the absence of adult authority the children would form their own social hierarchy.

Children are a lot like a pack of wolves in that they had an alpha and his betas, with the rest falling on various levels of the social ladder.

And do you know what is the greatest threat to an alpha?

A lone wolf.

My night at the orphanage had been uneventful but that was mostly because no one had really noticed me. By lunch the next day I had attracted plenty of attention, though no one had approached me, mostly because I gave off a scary vibe but also because alpha-boy hadn't yet ranked me. So when I saw the confident stride of the alpha-boy and his backup of betas I understood that this was the moment that would decide my place here for the rest of my stay.

The boy was pretty big and one of the oldest, probably about eight or so years old, and had pale blue hair and darker blue eyes were rather striking. He didn't look particularly smart, mostly because he seemed oblivious the slightly aura of danger I was giving off that the others had picked up on. If I had to guess, I'd say he got to his alpha position through sheer confidence, age and looks, not through talent.

"Hey, you're new here, right?" The boy called out to me as I relaxed against the roots of one of the courtyard's trees.

I refrained from making a smartass comment and just nodded, eyes still half lidded and body relaxed.

As he walked up to me and planted himself in front of me I let my head fall slightly sideways so that I was peering up at him. It was a trick I learned from watching a Peter Dinklage in "Game of Thrones". I had noticed that despite being considerable shorter the man never failed to feel like he was above or on equal footing with everyone in the room, and this was one way he did that; By turning his body slightly sideways he could look into peoples eyes without craning his neck. It was a subtle move that most people didn't notice consciously, but by turning my head I wasn't forcing my head back to look up to the boy and, subconsciously, it made it seem to him like we were on equal footing.

"What's your name?" He demanded.

Hmmm, that sounded a little rude. Well, I wasn't so easily flustered but this guy was walking on thin ice now.

"Saito Akira."

"Well, Akira-kun," I raised an eyebrow at that, seems like kiddo thought I was a guy, but he continued on without noticing, "I think it's about time you learn how things work around here. I'm the boss and– "

"What should I call you, then?" I ask, cutting of his spiel.

"Huh?" He said, surprised by my interruption.

"Well, I can't just say 'Hey, you'. What do I call you?"

He puffed up his chest and said, as if it were divine proclamation, "Call me Tomo-sama, and, if you make it to the academy, I might let you call me Tomo-sempai. I'm going to become a awesome ninja, so be grateful I'm gracing you with my precense."

Yeah, get a grip kid. I ain't calling some brat "-sama".

"Right then, well how about this," I say instead, "I'm just going do my thing over here in the corner and stay out of your way."

He looked shocked and confused at the proclamation, but I just closed my eyes dismissively and said, "Good? Good. Nice chatting with you."

"Wha– wait, don't ignore me!" He yelled, and I opened one eye to look back at him as he pointed at me dramatically.

"You need something else?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok, what is it?"

His reaction was hilarious. He paused, figure deflating a bit as he tried to think of what he wanted, before puffing back up and saying, with as much conviction as an eight year old can, "Don't disrespect me!"

"I'm not disrespecting you. I'm just napping."

He looked a bit at a loss now and I forced back a snicker. God, this was too easy. Kids were so easy to tease.

His face turned red with anger as he realized that I was messing with him but I kept my face neutral.

Before he could say anything else, the Matron's voice cut through the air.

"Everyone inside! Time for room inspections!"

He paused, turning towards the voice momentarily before turning back and saying, pointing again at me dramatically, "We're not done here."

I just blinked back at him slowly, showing just how intimidating I thought that little threat was and nodded.

"Sure thing, Tomo-san."

I got up and strolled past him into the orphanage, and smirked when I heard him sputter at my blatant dismissal of his suggested honorifics.

God, messing with kids was too fun.

* * *

Tomo-san continued to try and harass me and I continued to ignore him. I found it hilarious how he would get all flustered and confused and couldn't help but tease him. I briefly wondered if it was creepy that a full-grown woman (at least, full-grown mentally) liked screwing with little kids heads as much as I did, and decided that yes, it was more than a little neurotic.

But that didn't I wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

* * *

Two days after my arrival I was sitting alone and reading a book about different water purification methods (the orphanage had an odd assortment of literature, to say the least) on the roof of the orphanage and ignoring Tomo, who was yelling up to me about something or other, when I felt Inoichi's chakra signature coming towards me. I debated getting down but decided that he should probably expect something like this for me. I mean, I was being positively tame compared to my normal self.

He managed to find me immediately of course, and called up to me.

"Hey Akira-chan, how are you doing?"

I didn't get to respond as Tomo squawked triumphantly.

"Akira-_chan_! Ahahaha! That's so _girly_," he said, saying the last word like an insult

"That's not really an insult to me, Tomo-san," I said, looking down at him as I anticipated my next mind game.

"Huh, whaddya mean?" He said, looking perfectly confused.

"I'm a girl."

I let out a full-blown sadistic grin at the look on his face. It was too perfect!

"WHAT! No way! I don't believe you!" He cried, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Inoichi chuckled slightly and said, "She's telling the truth, Akira-chan is a girl."

Tomo looked back and forth between him and me, looking more and more panicked.

"But– we– and I– And you're so… so– You're a girl?" He said, slowly getting quieter till he was practically whispering by the end.

"Yup, one hundred percent female."

"But you look like a guy!"

I raised an eyebrow, "I wear pants and have short hair, what's your point?"

"You act like a guy! Girls are all… Girly."

I roll my eyes and close my book, "An astute observation, but not all girls are the same, Tomo-san."

"But…" He said, truly looking like his world was crumbling around his ears.

"I'm what you would call a 'tomboy', Tomo-san: Still female, just not 'girly'. Now," I say to Inoichi while jumping down from the roof, using my signature parcour moves to get down quickly, "what's the news from Crater City?"

"Ah yes, I wanted to talk to you and the Matron in private," Inoichi said.

I purposely ignore Tomo, who's shock about my gender wasn't as amusing now that I was faced with the serious issue of my future.

I nod and say, "Let's go then."

I latch onto the Matrons chakra signature and lead Inoichi to her quickly.

She takes one look at him and nods, saying, "Let's go to my office."

We don't start talking till we're all nice and comfy in our respective seats.

The Matron takes charge of the situation and says, "How can I help you, Yamanaka-sama."

I'm slightly shocked by the honorific before I remember that he's a clan head, which is equivalent to being a lord. Oh, that means I accused a lord of being a pedophile… Well I guess I can cross that off my bucket list.

"It's been decided that Akira will not be returning to her family in Crater City," he says to the Matron, "So I would like to discuss the details of her future now that we have that finalized."

Well, way gloss over the facts _and_ my opinion at the same time there, bud.

"I did mention that I don't want to live here right?" I mumble, "But nooo, you go right ahead and ignore that."

He doesn't and turns towards me, "Do you not like it here?"

"Nope," I say popping the "p", "I prefer coastal climates, personally."

"How would you know that? You've never been to the sea," He said, confused.

Not in this life but…

"You don't know my life," I say instead.

"I– never mind," He says, giving up on that line of inquiry he changes tactics.

"You could become a ninja though! You're almost five right?" True, my birthday was in about a month now that I thought about it, "You could enter the academy this spring! Wouldn't you like that?"

"Uh no. What would I get out of it?"

"What would you… Why, you would learn all these cool jutsu and…"

The Matron raises her hand and Inoichi stop talking.

"Academy students can apply to live on their own," she says simply

I automatically perk up at the thought of living on my own, and Inoichi notices.

"That's right, would you like that Akira-chan?"

Hmmm… Maybe this isn't such a bad idea.

If I go to the Academy, maybe even graduate and become genin, I'd be good enough that I could probably sneak away but weak enough they wouldn't bother chasing me down too much, especially if I go MIA or something and they don't know whether or not I'm alive… I'd be easy to avoid detection with my chakra sense too…

That really isn't a bad plan at all.

_And_ I'd get my own apartment, which was just the cherry on top.

"Yeah, I would. How does this work then? Do I need to fill out a form or…"

Inoichi seems pleasantly surprised by this and says, "We just need to fill in an Enrollment Form and a Minor Housing Emancipation Application, it'll only take a few minutes."

A few minutes? Isn't that a little too quick when it comes to emancipating a four-nearly-five year old?

Apparently not, as the Matron pulls open the drawer of her desk and says, "I have some copies right here. Yamanaka-sama, if you would."

She pushes the forms and a pen towards him and he starts filling things out for me. Wow, this really is easy, isn't it?

Inoichi hasn't even gotten halfway down the first form when I feel the wild and powerful chakra signature that's slowly coming our way. The Hokage's signature, which is walking next to it, is much larger but it's the other one I focus on.

It's wild in a way that all children's are but at least three or four times larger than any other child's. Not only that, it's warm and has a hypnotizing rhythm that just draws my attention in a way none has before while still being streaked with chakra that seems to pulse with _**hatefearangerdestruciondestroy**.._.

Wait, child with large and "warm" chakra signature and hateful chakra seeping out? That must be…

"Is everything alright, Akira-chan?"

I turn my head, which seemed to have instinctively snapped towards the direction of Naruto's chakra, back towards Inoichi and the Matron, who are looking at me warily.

I just nod and say, "Uh yeah, though I heard something. My mistake."

They don't look too convinced, but eventually go back to the forms when I don't do anything weird again. Unbeknownst to them, I continue to track the Jinchūriki's chakra and think.

Naruto is now two, almost three, which means he hasn't been given his apartment yet right? He's still living here, at the orphanage… _Shit I should have realized this earlier_. He wasn't here for two days though… Maybe he ran away? I can understand the appeal, as I did the same…

I look over at the Inoichi, who's almost done with the forms and realize that maybe my luck really isn't that bad.

I'm going to arrive and leave before I can meet Naruto... Hopefully.

Naruto and the Hokage's signature are only a couple streets away when Inoichi pushes the papers towards the Matron and tells me to get my things. I jumped out of my seat and grabbed all my things in record time. It was actually the Matron who seemed slightly startled by my suddenly eager attitude, whereas Inoichi seemed to chalk it up to excitement about my own apartment.

"OK, lets go to the Housing Office now and you'll have an apartment by the end of the day, how does that sound?" Inoichi asked as we walked out of the doors.

"Great," I said quickly, speeding up since Naruto was about to come around the corner any second, "So can we _gooo_?" I said, dragging out the word as I motioned for him to pick up the pace.

"I've never seen you this excited," He said chuckling, speeding up a bit.

Inoichi and I managed to get half a block before Naruto and the Hokage turned onto the street. I suddenly wondered if the Hokage would call out to us, but luckily he didn't.

I leaned my head back and stared at the sky, letting out a deep breath.

I successfully dodged _that_ crazy bullet.

Now I'll just have to dodge the other hundred or so others that might come my way.

Oh what fun is in store for me.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

OK, that was a crazy long chapter! Phew, that was a lot of work.

I'm thinking about Akira and her futre, but I want to here all of your guys opinions on some things:

1\. Do you guys want her to have any particular specializations in her fighting style? I already have a few in mind, but I'm always open for suggestions ~

2\. Romance? Yes/no/with whom?

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**


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